Gambling with grains? A critical case study of the U.S. Commodity Futures Modernization Act and its implications for global food insecurity

Abstract: In 2000, the Clinton Administration in the U.S. adopted the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which deregulated the U.S. trade with financial instruments on commodity markets. With respect to this adoption, it has been regarded as one catalyst for the Global food crisis 2008, where millions of individuals lacked provision and access to agricultural products and nutrition. From the perspective of the global food crisis 2008, this thesis conducts a case study of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act and its implications for global food insecurity. For this research, we construct a theoretical framework where we link processes of financialization, commodification and capitalist economy to the appearance of global food insecurity. Additionally, this framework accounts for a historical materialist critique of global development. The findings in this text suggests that the CFMA was characterized by a financialization process, and furthermore enabled a commodification of agricultural products. However, our analysis also suggests that these processes came with unequal effects on global distribution of agricultural commodities as a consequence of unequal development within the capitalist economy. These findings are found when analyzing material from the U.S. Congress, NGO reports and academic liteature.